According to the State Democratic Conference, the Democratic Party will take majority control of the Senate on Wednesday, Jan. 7, for the first time in 43 years.
Malcolm Smith will serve as majority leader, after struggling for weeks with a gang of three Democrats who had threatened to turn Republican if their demands for choice appointments and control of legislation were not met. The Conference emerged from a closed-door meeting on the evening of Tuesday, Jan. 6, with the announcement that Democrats will indeed by holding the Senate, 32-30.
`We are one Senate, united behind the common purpose of getting New York back on track and creating a government that operates in a more efficient and transparent manner to meet the needs of all New Yorkers,` said Smith in a statement.
Details on what concessions, if any, were made to Ruben Diaz Sr., Pedro Espada Jr. and Carl Kruger (the gang of three), were not immediately available.“